FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – American Liberty News (ALN) – in collaboration with respected national security expert Paul Crespo and the Center for American Defense Studies (CADS) – provides our readers the PDB:
Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING.
Get Your Best Daily Defense and Foreign Affairs Intelligence Here in One Brief. Read the summaries or dive deeper via the linked articles.
POLITICS
This week in Congress: Still waiting on election results. Lawmakers return to Capitol Hill Monday afternoon after an extended election break without knowing for sure what those election results are.
Military absentee votes down from 2018 as key races hinge on mail-in ballots. Military voters cast fewer absentee ballots in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's elections than they did in the previous midterms four years ago, according to data provided by the Military Postal Service Agency.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Biden's nuclear policy fails the Ukraine test. His administration's Cold War-style thinking is missing a golden opportunity.
CIA Director Bill Burns met with Russian counterpart Monday. CIA Director Bill Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, in Ankara Monday as part of an ongoing effort by the US to “communicate with Russia on managing risk” and to discuss the cases of “unjustly detained US citizens.”
Exclusive: Russian software disguised as American finds its way into US Army, CDC apps. Thousands of smartphone applications in Apple (AAPL.O) and Google's (GOOGL.O) online stores contain computer code developed by a technology company, Pushwoosh, that presents itself as based in the United States, but is actually Russian.
Strengthening national security through global water security. How would your day go without drinking water? How safe would you feel if you knew every day meant having to find water and coping with no toilet?
CHINA THREAT
PLAYING NICE WITH CHINESE COMMUNISTS (CHICOMS) – 4 takeaways from President Biden's ‘very blunt' meeting with China's Xi Jinping. A highly anticipated meeting between China's leader Xi Jinping and President Biden finished Monday with both leaders expressing an openness to restoring channels of communication and repairing a relationship that has been compared to a second Cold War.
Congress seeks to arm Taiwan quickly as China threat grows. Lawmakers are pushing an unprecedented package of military aid to Taipei. But allocating the money for it is in question.
RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR
US announces sanctions targeting Russian military suppliers. The U.S. is imposing sanctions on a list of people and firms around the globe that it alleged are financial facilitators of Russia's military supply chain.
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 265. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the G20 summit in a virtual address that now was the time to stop Russia's war in his country “justly and on the basis of the United Nations Charter and international law.”
FOLLOWING IN BIDEN'S BACKSTEPS – US scrambles to reassure Ukraine after Milley comments on negotiations. The top general's remarks about a “window” for talks angered Ukrainian officials, people familiar with the matter said.
The US is sending Avenger air defense systems to Ukraine to keep the skies free of Russian aircraft. Avengers assemble!
US studying how to modify powerful armed drone as Ukrainian demand grows. As Russian forces have retreated in Ukraine's south, the Biden administration has announced a slew of new military aid packages for Ukraine, but all were missing a piece of weaponry that Ukraine's military has long sought: the multi-use Gray Eagle drone, armed with Hellfire missiles.
The seeds of Russia's military collapse in Ukraine were planted by its bungled elimination of conscription. In the spring of 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, I was invited to Moscow. As a former assistant secretary of defense who dealt with manpower issues in the 1980s, I was part of a four-person American delegation meeting with Russian military leaders to discuss why and how the United States transitioned successfully from a conscript or draft military to an all-volunteer force (AVF) after the war in Vietnam.
NORTH KOREA THREAT
South Korea's defense minister lays out four results from trip to US. During this year's SCM, South Korea and the U.S. shared an in-depth discussion to further deepen and develop deterrence and response options against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as well as the South Korea-U.S. alliance, under the common vision to pursue a global comprehensive strategic alliance.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
B-52s fly bomber task force mission over CENTCOM with Israeli, Saudi fighters. Two B-52H Stratofortresses flew over the Middle East on Nov. 10 in the latest demonstration of American air power in the region. U.S. partners also participated, escorting the bombers with fighter jets and helping coordinate the mission.
US Navy intercepts ‘massive' shipment of explosive material in Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said on Tuesday it had intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling “massive” amounts of explosive material while transiting from Iran along a route in the Gulf of Oman that has been used to traffic weapons to Yemen's Houthi group.
US offers $10m for information on al-Shabab leaders, finances. US seeks information leading to disruption of Somalia-based group's finances as it intensifies attacks.
US to spend $66 mln on new facilities at Philippines military bases. The Philippines on Tuesday said defence ally the United States had agreed to spend $66.5 million to start building training and warehouse facilities at three of its military bases, under a 2014 joint security deal.
BIDEN'S AFGHAN DISASTER
Congress needs to do right by our Afghan allies. Every service member working toward American interests in Kabul helped countless Afghans avoid harrowing lives under Taliban rule. Sending Afghan refugees back to certain harm is anything but humane. Taking away their path to permanent citizenship, now or ever, would negate the sacrifices made by my post-9/11 veteran family. Congress must honor their sacrifices by passing the Afghan Adjustment Act.
SPACE THREAT
Space Force makes its premier exercise an international affair. Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom are sending military members to join in the U.S. Space Force's newly expanded Space Flag exercise next month.
NASA Artemis moon rocket launch countdown begins. The NASA Artemis I rocket scheduled to lift off Wednesday morning sustained damage during Hurricane Nicole as it made landfall on Thursday.
US MILITARY
Ford focus: Navy's newest carrier joins NATO allies on deployment No. 1. The Navy's newest aircraft carrier is testing its mettle alongside allies in the north Atlantic on its maiden deployment, as part of a mission that its leadership said sends a powerful message to adversaries who may be watching.
The Army's little-known boat fleet is getting a big upgrade. While the Navy's struggle to build out new ship classes for future conflicts makes headlines, the Army is quietly revamping its own little-known fleet – one that has at times had more vessels than the Navy's, albeit smaller ones.
Drowning death spotlights problem with older military dive vests. Army Special Operations Command will test new programmable swim vests after a Green Beret drowned during a roughly one mile swim in a quarry at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, while preparing for combat diver school in fall 2021.
VETERANS
GOOD DOG! – A life companion': These service dogs are helping veterans cope with PTSD. “He's very in tune with everything around me,” veteran Alejandra Figueroa said about Hardee, her black Labrador mix she received from K9s for Warriors.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: These Veterans Flipped House Seats This Week, Will Now Serve in Congress >>
